Feeding a fallow tank

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DennisF

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I am fallowing my 125 due to an ick outbreak. My question concerns feeding the tank during this period. I still have snails, hermits, emeralds, two green serpents, orange linckia, numerous corals, three clams and cleaner shrimp left in the tank. I have been feeding flakes, mysis about once a day to keep them happy and am dosing the tank with phyto every other day. My question is 'Is this enough or too much? :shock:
 
It really is too much. With no fish in the tank, there is plenty of food in the rockwork that your crew can eat in the meantime. Every day your lights fuel algae growth that they can consume.

If you fed once a week, it would probably be fine. When you clean the glass with a cleaning magnet, the clams get a meal so even phyto isn't all that critical for now. Maybe dose phyto once a week as well, leaving the skimmer off for an hour.
 
@Marc wrote:
When you clean the glass with a cleaning magnet said:
Since everybody's learning from each and every post here.....
does this statement apply even with clam's under 3" in the tank, just wondering since your didn't state or ask that.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
 
I would probably feed a little more than Marc suggests, but definitely less than you are are now. Ditch the flake, though, they make nitrate soup. Every third day, a cube of meaty food, and phyto once a week, maybe. The idea is to keep the biological filter fed, so that you don't shock it when you eventually put the fish back in.
 
Thanks. My clams are 3"+ in size and right now my snails are laying egg sacks all over the tank face so I can't clean it yet to release the algae growth on it. I have quite a few green spots that I intended to leave a few days to let the eggs hatch. I have about a dozen baby snails on the glass face too. I was thinking that I might move my other large cleaner shrimp into this tank to see if I could get some shrimp reproduction activity during the no fish time. That would give the fry(???) a good chance of surviving as the snails seem to be taking advantage of now.
 
Fatheree who is one of the best experts on clams is pretty adament now that light is enough for even small clams but feeding never hurts!
 
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